The treatment of germ-cell tumours of the testis can be considered as a model for cancer management, representing public education, diagnosis and cure with long term follow-up. Psychosocial distress, fertility and secondary tumour induction can also be studied. The aetiology of this disease is...

Meningococcal disease may present as meningitis, septicaemia or a combination of the two. Generally, meningitis has a gradual onset, with fever, headache and neck stiffness as the most frequent clinical symptoms. In contrast, fulminant septicaemia may develop within hours, and is characterised...

Medically intractable epilepsy (MIE) is a chronic disabling condition that primarily affects the young. Inadequately treated, it can produce life-long disability associated with high rates of social isolation, unemployment, depression, suicide and premature mortality. Recent advances in...

Clinical practice guidelines have gradually become a normal part of daily life for many clinicians. In order to provide good support for practitioners and patients in their decisions on appropriate care, the practice guidelines should be of high quality, i.e. developed by a credible...

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a chronic progressive disease characterised by damage to the optic nervehead (optic disc) which leads to visual field loss and may eventually result in blindness if left untreated. Intraocular pressure (IOP) is elevated in the majority of patients. Early...

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality and is associated with the consumption of considerable health resources worldwide. Initial treatment of patients with CAP is often empirical. Growing concern about the increasing prevalence of atypical organisms is...

For people with chronic illness, day-to-day responsibilities for care fall most heavily on patients and their families. Organising healthcare to strengthen and support self-management in chronic illness while assuring that effective medical, preventative and health maintenance interventions take...

Spending on direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) in the US rapidly increased from $US150 million in 1992 to $US1.2 billion in 1998 (to the end of November). Despite this level of expenditure, there is no literature on how DTCA affects patients' level of knowledge about medications, physician...

Care for older people with dementia living in the community involves not only a physician and the patient, but also a family member as the `primary caregiver'. This caregiver communicates medical information from the physician to the patient (screening this information as necessary), ensures...

Dyslipidaemias, particularly elevated serum low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels and low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, are major risk factors for the development of atherosclerosis and subsequent coronary heart disease (CHD). It is well accepted that reducing...